An ex-con who was recently killed in front of a Bronx apartment building was released from prison just a few months ago, enjoying being home and getting reacquainted with his family, his daughter said Monday.
Victim Alexis Ramirez, 47, spent his last hours spending time with his daughter and grandchildren before he was gunned down on Morris Ave. near E. 183rd St. in Fordham at about 9:40 p.m. Saturday, cops and relatives said.
“He was pretty good,” his daughter told the Daily News. “We were actually joking the whole time. We actually went food shopping. He had a joyful attitude. He was with my kids. Little things always made him happy.”
That same day, Ramirez stopped by a deli with a child on his shoulders and bought a package of Little Debbie glazed donuts for the kid, said deli worker Lorenzo Hernandez, 53. He said Ramirez and his family were regular customers.
“He was happy,” Hernandez remarked.
A day later, after the murder, Ramirez’s wife came in. “She was crying,” Hernandez said.
In between the two visits, cops said Ramirez was shot multiple times. Medics rushed him to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Blood still stained the sidewalk where Ramirez was shot.
There have been no arrests.
“The streets are just getting worse by the day,” said the victim’s daughter, who did not want her name used. “My nightmare just came true.”
She said Ramirez had just moved back home after a stint in prison and time at a halfway house.
“He just came back home a couple days ago,” she said. “I waited for him for this long for somebody to just take my dad’s life just like that
“He was happy,” she said. “I just had another baby. It was a joy for him to be home with his family. I can’t really tell exactly what went wrong.”
Despite the happy reunion, she said she still sensed that something wasn’t right.
“I just had a feeling something was going to go wrong,” she recounted. “He was willing to change his ways and just go away. But everything just happened too fast.”
She said she had plans to move out of the neighborhood, adding that she just didn’t have enough time.
“I actually have intentions of moving out of the city because of the gun violence that’s going on,” she said. “My plan was to get up and take my dad with me.”
The daughter said she was just a year old when her father went to prison.
“When I started realizing my father was in jail I was 4 years old,” she said. “He didn’t come home until I was 15.”
Ramirez had been in and out of jail on a variety of charges, according to state records. Starting in 1998, he served seven years on a Bronx robbery and drug possession conviction. In 2008, he started serving a 2.5-year sentence for a Bronx drug possession conviction. He returned to prison in 2016 for convictions on attempted robbery, attempted gun possession and selling drugs.
He was released Nov. 23 and assigned to a halfway house.
His daughter said she isn’t sugarcoating her father’s life. But he was still her father.
“That was my best friend,” she said. “ My dad was my protector. Whether he was home or not, I had peace of mind.
“I waited for him for 26 years to actually have a real bond back at home and just live a real normal life with my dad. I feel empty. They took a part of me.”
